Cultural Confusion
by MercernaryGirl13
Summary: Sometimes, Dempsey's cluelessness becomes an advantage to a certain Jap with an interest.  Takeo x Dempsey and Nikolai x Richtofen at the end. T just in case


It was a sunny day, shining on the viscous fog coating Kino der Toten. It was German for, "Cinema of the dead," or "Theater of the dead," as they called it for random reasons. Their reasoning needed just as much explaining as their sanity: none. The zombies not only tore what humanity they clung to, they took their families, friends and anyone they knew and cared for. Insanity overtook their memories and now all that mattered was the group of four survivors. Although, none of them cared too much for the others, one cared for just one other. The young Japanese of the group.

He clung to his humanity and honor and refused to give in to animalistic instincts. There was another feeling he clung to: love. The Japanese didn't realize he still owned love until he got close to a certain Marine. Dempsey had given respect to Takeo after seeing what the Jap was capable of. Takeo craved Dempsey's respect and admiration. He loved it. Dempsey was the only one to actually appreciate Takeo, as the Nazi and the Soviet were into each other. Not that way though, more of a tight friendship. Despite their past positions, they got along fairly well. The crazy doc complemented Nikolai occasionally, while Nikolai shared his vodka only with Richtofen, which was a big shock to the others. Nikolai NEVER shared his vodka, so that was a big sign of their friendship.

Takeo felt his face heat up as he watched his secret crush polish his gun. Dempsey paid no attention to the staring Jap, just shrugging it off. For all the Marine knew, Takeo wasn't staring at him. Takeo sighed as he polished his own katana. Dempsey would never like him back-well, at least not like that. Takeo needed some excuse to spend private time with his favorite Marine. Dempsey yawned and stretched his tired muscles. As soon as he opened his eyes he was met with the Japanese man's face. Dempsey didn't flinch.

"Oh, hey. 'Sup Taks?"

Takeo smiled a little. He liked the small pet name Dempsey gave him

"Werr...I have enough for a pack-a-punch. Do you think you can come with me?"

Dempsey's eyebrow raised.

"You want me to come with you to the pack-a-punch machine? What?" Dempsey was surprised. Takeo wasn't scared, was he?

Takeo felt his cheeks burning.

"W...werr, I want someone to tark to on the way. Prease? I'm nervous around Richtofen, and Nikorai hates me."

Dempsey considered it. But why him? Couldn't Takeo go on his own? After all, Dempsey dubbed him their "Lil bundle of badass". Dempsey heaved a sigh, to which Takeo took as a sign of annoyance.

"Fine...only cause I'm fuckin' bored."

Dempsey rose and walked beside the Jap; down the stairs and across the bloodied body strewn floor, to reach the worn down teleportation unit, which would take them to the movie control room overhead. The ride up wasn't kind to Takeo. One of the side effects kicked in and made him nauseous, maybe a hint of vertigo. Takeo was so overwhelmed by the time he got there, he collapsed into the Marine's arms.

"You okay Tak?"

Takeo's facial expression remained stone in his trade mark pokerface, but on the inside, shyness was burning him. Takeo couldn't seem to find his voice. He had to hold down the vomit he felt coming up. Dempsey held up the nauseous Jap, unafraid of their closeness as Takeo was. The Jap finally found the strength to stand, his straight face threatening to break.

"Domo arigato, Dempsey-Sama..." Takeo murmured, looking down.

"Mr. Roboto?" Dempsey questioned, obviously knowing no Japanese. Takeo even had it in him to snicker at the Marine's lack of understanding on culture of the Japanese. He didn't even know a simple "Thank you" in Japanese. All he probably knew was "Konichiwa" meant "hello", maybe not even that.

"I said thank you in my native tongue. I guess it slipped," Takeo explained, seeming upset at his mistake. Dempsey waved it off.

"Ah, you're fine. Now I know. Now how about that pack-a-punch?" Dempsey tried to get Takeo back on track and put a hand on the Jap's shoulder. Takeo jumped at the sudden gesture. He nodded and reached for his gun...wait...what gun? *Shimatta! He left it downstairs! Takeo mentally face palmed himself. He was so happy to spend time with the Marine, he forgot the whole reason he came up with him for. The pack-a-punching his gun was his intentions, in truth.

Takeo's blood ran cold. Dempsey might hit him. There was a time or two when Dempsey slapped him upside the head for not taking care of the zombies on his side. Takeo was sure Dempsey would be mad. The Jap refused to look the at the Marine's face, anywhere but there.

"I m-...must have forgotten my weapon downstairs..."

Takeo squeezed his eyes tight. Dempsey groaned out.

"Ugh, so you forgot your gun. Jeez, who does that? Great, and I don't even have enough points to pack-a-punch my gun."

"I'm sorry...here, I'll make it up to you!" Takeo snatched up Dempsey's RPK and fed it to the pack-a-punch machine, using his own points. After Takeo received the brand new gun, he bounded back over to Dempsey. Takeo beamed with pride.

"Your new weapon," Takeo said, bowing and tipping his head in a respectable manner as he held out the gun to the Marine. Dempsey gratefully took the upgraded RPK and inspected it.

"Well, uh, thanks Takeo. That was nice of you?" Dempsey wasn't entirely sure what to say. No one had been this nice to him after the zombies invaded. Without even thinking about it, Takeo reached up and kissed both of Dempsey's cheeks. Dempsey looked in shock to Takeo. The Jap was mortified. Why did he do that! Well, he couldn't risk their friendship over that stupid gesture, so he had to lie. With his pokerface on, he was prepared to take on the question sure to come.

"What was that?" and there it was.

Takeo was prepared though, with his own comeback.

"It is necessary for me to do that to a person who has done good for me, but onry to crose friends is my shown appreciation granted to."

Takeo felt pleased with his lie.

"It is part of my culture."

Dempsey simply formed an "O" with his mouth in understanding, or rather, as he fell for it. Takeo was pretty clever, since Dempsey knew nothing of his culture. Dempsey shrugged.

"So, you have to do that when I do something nice for ya? What did I do this time?"

"Just for coming up with me and forgiving my forgotten weapon."

Dempsey waved it off.

"No problem. Here, since ya bought me a pack-a-punch, I'll buy ya a Juggernog."

Takeo brightened up. Two more kisses for his favorite Marine. Takeo was glad for once at Dempsey's unknowing. After they teleported back down, Tank led Takeo over to the Juggernog machine and cashed in his points. Upon receiving the drink, he handed it to the eager Jap, who traded it for one kiss on each of the Marine's cheeks. This time, Dempsey actually expected it.

This whole ordeal lasted the whole week. Tank was doing more favors for Takeo just to get kissed. Tank just didn't get it. Why was he doing this? Maybe, Tank realized, he hadn't had this much affection for a long time. It made him feel nice. A warm feeling arose inside the hardened Marine. He realized the army treated him harshly only to keep him from being weak. Apparently, affection makes people weak.

There was the one day at the end of the week that Takeo's cover was blown.

Dempsey was running around with the his RPK that Takeo pack-a-punched for him. Thank God they found a munitions closet. Dempsey didn't want to give up his RPK that easily. Takeo finally realized he was the only one in the room when he got surrounded. The Jap gasped in pain as he fell to the ground. He Always wondered why the zombies didn't come after downed teammates. Oh well, as long as they didn't try to rip him apart, he was fine with it. Takeo waited on the ground, feeling embarrassed to have gotten down while waiting for an ally to assist him. The young warrior smiled when he saw a familiar face above him. Dempsey uncapped his syrette and injected it into Takeo. Soon, the Jap could stand. Just when the monkey bomb exploded, Richtofen and Nikolai arrived in time to see Takeo plant a kiss on each of Dempsey's cheeks. The fact that Takeo kissed Dempsey didn't surprise them as much as Dempsey leaning down so he could let it happen. Richtofen looked oddly at the two. Were they? What the...? Huh?

Nikolai was too drunk to think, but he still knew what he saw.

"What the fuck was that?" Nikolai slurred.

"I'm not sure, mein Russian friend, but I'll figure it out."

Nikolai just drunkenly held to the edge as Richtofen inspected the two.

Finally, Tank was alone.

Richtofen and Nikolai, together, as no surprise, strode up to the dozing Marine. Dempsey was about ready for a nap, but he couldn't now, seeing as he was needed. Tank sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"What do you want, faggot..." Dempsey groaned, displeased at the interruption.

"Don't call me ze faggot here. Vat vas zat? Takeo KISSED you!"

Tank made a noise of annoyance. He sat up and confidently explained what Takeo told him.

"It's part of his culture," Dempsey finished.

Richtofen gave Dempsey an odd look, before the look returned to the ceiling as he muttered something in German, possibly "Oh my God...", before looking back to Dempsey.

"No it isn't,"Richtofen confirmed.

Tank felt like his brain was frying. "Yes, it is."

Richtofen looked pissed. Why was Tank so hardheaded? The German groaned and ground his teeth. 'Vat ever God is out zere, give me shrength...' he thought.

"I may not be Japanese, but I know enough about zem to know zat is not part of zeir culture!"

Tank growled defensively. He wasn't sure if he did or didn't want to believe Richtofen. If it was true, then...someone actually cared about Dempsey.

"But Tak told me...he...he...culture..." Dempsey glared at the ground, getting more and more confused, his words lost before they were even found.

"So, I'm assuming that means you aren't 'with' Takeo?" the doctor sniggered. Dempsey was so clueless. Richtofen always loved teasing the American jar-head. He always preferred Nikolai anyways. Every time Dempsey made a crawler, he wanted to kill it, whereas every time Nikolai made one he always got a compliment and he didn't want to kill it. When Dempsey was surrounded, he wanted to sit back and watch, when Nikolai was surrounded, Richtofen would make an actual effort to save him, and so on. He gave totally different emotions to them. Dempsey's was negative, and Nikolai's was positive.

Dempsey was even more confused. Why would Takeo lie about it? Oh yeah, he probably thought he would get slapped. Dempsey remembered the day he slapped Takeo. The zombies broke in and got him down. Takeo did help Dempsey immediately and bought him a Juggernog. Maybe Dempsey was too hard on him. Maybe, he should be nice to Takeo. Maybe...being with him wasn't such a bad idea. Tank inwardly smiled, hoping he could make one come to Takeo's face more often. Dempsey stood and announced to no one in particular not to disturb his little meeting with Takeo.

Making his way to the theater, where Takeo sat cross legged and meditating in a cinema seat. Dempsey strode over to Takeo.

"Tak. Hey Tak, we gotta talk for a sec. In private would be nice."

Takeo froze. Private wasn't the best option for a possibly pissed off Marine. Takeo may have had a crush on him and want to be alone in a room together, but this gave him a negative vibe...Takeo forced himself to trudge after Dempsey anyways to the spare bedroom he was being led to.

Once inside, the door was closed and locked by Dempsey. No way out.

Takeo shuddered at the click and stood facing away from Tank, but he just came up behind the scared shitless warrior and whispered, even though private.

"You've been lying to me."

Takeo's Thoughts slid down his throat. He had no words to throw out there, his voice box felt destroyed. Tank suddenly turned the Jap to face him and gripped his shoulders.

"Tell me the truth. Is the kiss part of your culture or not?" Dempsey calmly demanded.

Takeo shivered violently in his touch. He couldn't answer wrongly. It would be even worse. He sighed heavily in defeat and hung his head low.

"No, Dempsey...it's not..."

Dempsey smirked, but Takeo couldn't see, at least, until their faces were inches apart. Takeo's face bloomed crimson.

"That's all I needed to hear."

With that, their lips pressed together. Takeo's eyes widened. Was this really happening? Was this some cruel dream meant to tease him? Nothing even mattered, their world shattered around them and they were the only ones remaining. The ones who mattered. Takeo begged, if this is a dream, he thought, don't let me wake up.

Takeo slowly moved his lips against the Marine's, his arms wrapped around Dempsey's neck, pulling them closer and closer. Soon, the Jap felt a tongue slide across his lower lip and gave eager access to his own mouth. Takeo moaned, ectasy overtaking his joy in fireworks, booming in beautiful colors and brightening Takeo's mood considerably. Tank broke it for air. Neither realized that they needed air till they broke away, gasping silently like fish out of water. Both stayed where they were, faces inches apart, their breath mingling and faces aglow with red. Their foreheads pressed together.

"S-...so you don't hate me?" Takeo broke the silence. What a rhetorical question to the Marine!

"Will this answer your question?" Tank smirked and pulled their lips together again, hands sliding down to unbutton Takeo's uniform.

Outside the room, Richtofen and Nikolai were eavesdropping. The Nazi grinned, looking through the keyhole.

"I vas right!" he giggled.

"Da, da...I'm bored. Since they probably are, do you want to?"

Richtofen went a bit wide eyed at Nikolai. Was he suggesting what he thought he was suggesting? The Nazi blushed and grinned, walking up to his Soviet comrade, putting his hands on the Cossak's shoulders. Nikolai wrapped his arms around Richtofen's waist and copped a sneak ass grope.

"Oh Nikolai~!" Richtofen practically sang.

Nikolai picked up the Nazi, slinging him over his shoulder and walking off to the other bedroom. Richtofen, who's head rested in his hands and supported by the Cossak's shoulders, looked happy and flustered. He looked like this treatment was the most romantic thing in the world. Probably was to him.


End file.
